Knicks might get Steve Francis
CousinLarry
4,618 Posts
This seems like a very good look for the Knicks.
February 22, 2006Knicks Obtain Francis in Deal With Orlando By HOWARD BECKThe Knicks, mired in one of the worst seasons in franchise history, shook up the roster again today, acquiring former All-Star Steve Francis from Orlando in a splashy and potentially risky trade, two people involved in the talks said.Francis, a 29-year-old guard, has career averages of 19.4 points, 6.4 assists and 6 rebounds. He made the Western Conference All-Star team three times with Houston before the Rockets traded him to the Magic two summers ago.The Knicks, who had earlier dangled guard Jamal Crawford in negotiations, are instead acquiring Francis for a minimal package: the injured Penny Hardaway and the 20-year-old swingman Trevor Ariza.The teams agreed to the deal early this afternoon, said the two people involved in the talks, who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to announce the deal.Just 24 hours ago, the teams had a larger deal on the table. Crawford, Ariza and Maurice Taylor would have been sent to the Magic in exchange for Francis and Pat Garrity. But the proposal was changed this morning, at the request of the Orlando general manager, Otis Smith, according to a person involved in the discussions.The Magic wants to pare payroll to rebuild around Dwight Howard and apparently did not want to take on the hefty contract of Crawford, or the final year and a half of Taylor's deal, which will pay him $9.7 million next season.So the Knicks obtained Francis without even denting their rotation. Ariza, a second-round pick in 2004, has shown little progress and played sparingly this season. The perpetually injured Hardaway has been working out on his own in Houston since Jan. 1.Both Ariza and Hardaway are free agents this summer, which will allow the Magic to shed more than $16 million from its payroll.The deal is subject to league approval, which is considered a formality. A conference call with the commissioner's office was set to take place just before 2 p.m.It is possible that both Francis and Ariza will be playing for their new teams tonight. Orlando is in East Rutherford to play the Nets. The Knicks have a home game against the Miami Heat. If both teams waive the usual physical examinations, Ariza and Francis could cross the Hudson River in the next few hours and be fitted for their new uniforms by tip-off.
Comments
The tagteam of Isaiah and Layden has screwed up my team for the rest of the decade.
This is very true. Trade marbury for something good or picks.
I think they just got francis sort in a buy it now auction type of way.
Steph is good... Stevie is basically the not-good Steph.
Steph has really been great for the Knicks.
Steph is good , Stevie is good just a bad path in the NBA, steph is slightly older but more experience, stevie better rebound/defense only a bit. Depends on the locker room or team direction.
underperformer
bad attitude
fat contract
long contract
ball hog
whines when he's on a team that loses
yep. sounds like another knick. add him to the pile.
Zeke has no f*ckin' clue what he's doing. Isn't it obvious by now?
stephon marbury
steve francis
jamal crawford
quentin richardson
nate robinson
jalen rose
that sure is a lot of guards that require the ball in their hands and love shooting too.
granted marbury's been averaging like 8 assists per game, who else is gonna pass the rock?
at least when my warriors play them, i can mark it as a WIN.
-rich
Showing the broad picture like that (all aquired pretty recently) is insightful and scary. Only teams with championships to defend and an established system can manage that much talent and even they have issues Althoughnwho knows it could make for two great lines. But when you think about it what is sad is that the players have changed because of NY which maked the situation even worse.
Qrich in phoenix was a 3 shooting explosive guard part of a balanced team (generous PG, nonselfish marion, solid center to kick out) Now he is just pulling up at will or driving to get fouls and has not found a place
Jamal used to be great as a humble rookie, now in NY he's loving himself too much. Nate has never been stable.
Jalen can be great (i am sure isiah took him because of the relationship they had in Tororto) but not on a crazy ass wild team like this. Althouh he might adjust his attitude and play a veteran role.
ThePG situation is looking bad though. Marbury had gained seriousness and passion form his stint in Phoenix (first taste of serious schitt) but NY was hard on him and now is all over the place. Stevie Francis...no comment
Seems like the knicks are just running wild (larry brown out of nowhere also) they need to win immediately if they want to hold it together. You cant fix 5 years of shame in 2 seasons
It's like a bad joke.
Stevie's got a max contract, though... not sure how good of a deal it is.
It is perhaps more like hitting the record store with a hot knot and when you don't find anything you really want, throwing $60 at a copy of Memphis High.
The contract is phat but giving up Ariza and Hardaway... that's a small thing.
Houston tried like hell to make this guy fit in....I'm afraid he's a bad deal for whoever gets stuck with him.
I agree. He's a very talented loser.
more like losing fans with each lateral or backwards move. i'm about as diehard as it gets and even i'm teetering on the edge of just getting over it and forgetting about worrying about this team. it takes too much goddamn energy and it's not even close to being worth it. i'll give isiah credit all day for drafting frye but he's an absolute disaster in the open market.
this is dollar-for-dollar the worst team in any professional sport, ever. and the weirdest thing is that just when you think it can only get better, it gets dramatically worse.
but hey, that's just as it is for now. tomorrow at 3 o'clock we're know a lot more about our "plan" ..
and his name is.......
Mark Cuban!!!!!!!
just to illustrate how innacurate this is, in one of my fantasy bball leagues three guys immediately changed their team names to "ex-knickfan," "ex-knickfan #2," and "fuck the knicks." i can't remember any trade in recent memory that has had such an immediate and obvious adverse effect on its team's fan base. the incompetence at work here is shocking. and of course it all starts with james "blank check" dolan, who's letting the wheels come off the wagon .... and actually seems to be encouraging it.
Yeah dude, this shit hurt me. It was like someone spitting in my face. I've watched almost every game this season and gone to 9 or 10 games at the Garden, and all I get for it is an overpriced hot dog and big glass of dissapointment. Why do we need an underperforming point guard with an issue with authority and a serious reluctance to actually do his job and distribute the goddamn ball, we already have one of those!!! Thomas should be fired and god, if Dolan sold the team I would dance in the fucking streets. Then, when I read things like "the Knick are interested in NeNe", I'm like "why didn't we keep him when we HAD him???". Add that to such stellar acquisitions as Jerome James, and the 26 or whatever starting line-ups we've had since the beginning of the season and I pretty much wanna get League Pass and squint my eyes and pretend the Pistons are the Knicks. Shit is genuinely puzzling and disheartening.
The Knicks have a bunch of guys that don't really know how to play team ball for the most part and no one to distribute the ball as Coach Brown wants. Stephan Marbury is a scorer. Francis is a scorer. You're going to have two very similar players in the backcourt which still does not address what Brown wants, someone to run the team's offense.
Isaiah Thomas just seems to be collecting talent and contracts, but with no real plan as to how these pieces are suppose to work together nor what his coach wants out of players.
Just my 2 cents.
ISIAH IS AN IDIOT !
HAHAHAHAHA!!!
i'm sure he has a trade worked out already for Steph or Crawford pending this move today ...but he is Isiah so i'm sure it will get uglier....hold your hat Knick fans
I just want to see the video of the first time Stevie Franchise and Steph's Mommy throw down outside the Knicks Locker Room!
I'd trade two Lottery picks from this year if I could be guaranteed the overall #1 pick next year......Greg Oden